Chapter 17

It was the week after the pool session and Jess was enjoying the college's Spring break even though she had no plans to go anywhere. Today she and her mother had a good time on a long sightseeing drive up in the hills above Malibu. They'd ended the day by having dinner at the Trancas Canyon home of one of the art directors who oversaw her mom's work at the studio. The house was new and quite fancy but the owners were as down to earth as native California artists would be. They had no children but didn't make the common non-parent mistake of patronizing Jess, instead offering her a glass of red wine and including her in the conversation. They made the smokers indulge in their habits out on the balcony, although the steady canyon wind kept all but the most determined from staying out too long. Jess was fairly sure that people were smoking grass out there too, but her mother didn't indulge in anything other than a heavy measure of the wine. But that didn't mean she never smokes pot, though, Jess mused as she drove her mom home at the end of the evening. A slight mist was creeping across the beach highway as Jess carefully turned left onto it out of the canyon road.

"Music won't distract you, will it?" her mom asked as she started to reach for the radio's power button.

"No, go ahead."

Her mom pressed the button and tuned the radio to KIIS. "Convoy" had just started playing, making mother and daughter laugh a tad ironically. "Still going strong, I see," her mom quipped, but made no change to the station.

As she listened to the comedic CB slang Jess suddenly realized that her birthday was just under a month away. When they'd first moved to Venice her mom had said something about buying her a car. She decided now might be a good time to bring the subject back up again, given her mom's slightly tipsy state. It was worth a try.

"Hey Mom, is that car offer for my birthday still on the table?"

"Well of course, sweetie. I was going to bring it up but the last time we talked about it I recall you being lukewarm on the idea, for some reason."

Jess thought back to their talk, which had been over two months ago. "Well, I think I was hoping to get a better paying job then so I could get one myself," she admitted.

Her mom rested one elbow against the door and rested her cheek against her palm, regarding her only child. "Sweetie, I told you then that I could help you out and nothing's changed. You saw how well I get along with the head honcho. Maybe if you got the car you could scout for a better job farther afield."

Jess had to silently confess that her mom was right but was unwilling to accept her total charity. Next month she'd be 18, time to start establishing her independence as an adult. The thought was both exciting and intimidating. She'd gotten some practice at this since they moved to LA, due to her mom's steady and sometimes long working hours. However, it was nothing like living on one's own with your fate entirely in your hands. That was Jess' personal measuring stick of being an adult. That and being able to understand 'Doonesbury' on the first reading. She felt that when the time came to move out she'd go for good, but right now she just wasn't ready. She had treasured this day with her mom, the first of its kind they'd had since moving out West. It occurred to her that maybe her mom wasn't quite ready for her to go yet either. Fine, she resolved. Give it maybe another year and work hard at school in the meantime and maybe my future path will be more clear then. And what the hell, if mom wants to give me a car then who am I to deny her? I just won't let her buy a really expensive one. She realized her last thought would be seen as downright mutinous by some of her friends back home, who had made the act of squeezing money out of their parents into a high art form.

"Ok, maybe we can go look at some cars while I'm still on break?"

"You got it, sweetie." Her mom seemed delighted with Jess' decision to comply.

They were passing through Santa Monica, the rough streets softened up by the incoming fog. We left just in time. By midnight it would be thick as pea soup, Jess thought.

Once they arrived at home, Jess was the first to reach the front door. As she dug out her key and aimed it for the lock, she noticed a piece of green paper wedged into the crack next to the brass handle. Looks like we had a visitor, she ruminated as she extracted the paper and quickly unfolded it, scanning the crabbed handwritten lines:

Sorry I missed you. Hope this is the right house. You said it was on the corner but I didn't know which one. If this is the wrong house then I'm sorry, whoever you are.

Wentzle

Jess suppressed a giggle since her mom was walking up behind her. She discreetly stuffed the paper into her pants pocket and unlocked the door. After bidding her mom good night, she went to her room and initiated her now firmly established nightly routine: dressing for bed, then a little sketching, a little reading, and lastly a little quiet music to send herself off to sleep. Tonight her album pick was an oldie but a goodie – 'Cosmo's Factory' by CCR - one of the records her dad had given her the last time she'd stayed with him. He was always passing along old vinyl to her with the claim that he didn't listen to that particular band much anymore, but deep inside she knew he still loved it and was generous enough to give her a chance to love it too. This particular album was destined to end up in Jess' collection ever since she heard the opening riff to 'Up Around the Bend' when she was 12 and became so entranced she almost wore a hole in the vinyl from listening to it repeatedly.

Tonight she had no problems getting sleepy, not that she usually did. Before the first side could finish, she dragged herself out of bed, shut off the stereo, crawled back under the covers and shut out her little bedside lamp. Less than a minute later she was sound asleep.